For the past five years, Whiteland Community High School’s football and track teams, as well as the school’s band, have benefited from an outdoor facility that got a $3 million facelift in 2015, the product of a lengthy facilities study Clark-Pleasant schools is set to embark on again.
The renovations, which put new turf on the football field and upgraded the track, locker rooms and band’s practice field, were inspired by a facilities study that revealed the venue was in need of those changes.
Now, school officials are once again looking for suggestions from Indianapolis-based architecture and design firm Lancer + Beebe as it begins a similar study of all nine of the district’s school buildings, as well as its transportation facility.
The contract, which the Clark-Pleasant school board approved Feb. 18, will pay Lancer + Beebe $10,000 for its work to analyze the school district’s campuses for any additional shortcomings in terms of security, classrooms and facilities, including athletic facilities and club and collaborative spaces, such as music rooms and computer labs, according to school documents.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
The study will take about six months to complete. During the process, Lancer + Beebe will meet with school leaders to discuss suggestions and develop a plan to move forward, said Terry Lancer, a partner at the firm.
“We will be reviewing all of the buildings … We will look first at the safety and security for students, staff and visitors (at) each of the buildings, looking at traffic patterns for student drop-off and pick-up and looking at ADA compliance for accessibility,” Lancer said. “We will be reviewing all their facilities to see if anything is past its useful life to help them plan for updates in the future.”
Lancer + Beebe will also review the buildings’ infrastructure to see if any updates are needed to plumbing or HVAC systems, for example, Lancer said.
The high school was built in the 1960s, so making sure it’s up-to-date is key, said John Venter, spokesperson for Clark-Pleasant schools.
“We just want to see where there might be gaps or needs,” Venter said. “Our football field was redone not too long ago. We already spent time and resources to make the football, track and band performance area more modern and functional for today’s students. We’re just looking at other facilities — the cafeteria space and the media space — to make sure we’re not overlooking or missing out on things we need for our students to learn.”
Lancer + Beebe has conducted facilities studies for other Johnson County school districts in recent years, resulting in millions of dollars worth of changes across the county.
In 2017, Center Grove Community Schools used a facilities study from Lancer + Beebe to identify needs at the high school, which resulted in a $45 million change to the school, including a new natatorium, expanded spaces for the art department and redesigned classrooms, spokesperson Stacy Conrad said.
And in 2016, Indian Creek Schools also used a Lancer + Beebe facilities study to identify a need in transportation facilities. That study inspired plans for a nearly $4 million transportation and maintenance facility which is slated to open in the fall.
